Leon

Tuesday September 17

We arrived relatively early in Lyon with our Aussie friends, Greg and Klaus.  We found our aubergue, were able to leave our packs with them until they opened and went to explore the city.  Leon is a bustling metropolis and where we are staying is full of  labyrinthal narrow streets between plazas or squares that have attractive cafes and restaurants.

Eventually we found our way to the Cathedral Plaza where we found the 13th century Gothic cathedral.  It was unusually constructed in only 50 years and is a beautiful, cohesive example of simple Gothic architecture.  The interior columns soar and all four sides of the cathedral is covered in magnificant stained glass.  At the time, it was a significant departure from Romanesque architecture with its thick walls and minimal windows holding up the massive ceilings of the churches.  The exterior flying buttresses support the weight of the church and allow for all the exquisite glass.

                                          

Another focus of our visit in Leon was the neo-gothic place, Casa de Botines, designed by Antonio Gaudi.  It was constructed in the late 1800's and was one of the first large secular buildings constructed in Leon.  It doesn't have the drama and imagination of the buildings we visited in Barcelona, but we could see some distinctive Gaudi elements such as the roof top chimneys, detail around the windows and the fact that the facade of the  building is slanted back slightly to capture falling snow on its rough exterior surface that along with the round turrets evoke a fairy-tale ambiance.  It is now a bank and is not open to the public.

Gaudi is sitting on a bench in front of the building, so we took the opportunity to check out his drawings.

We are in a convent run by dedicated and lovely nuns.  For the first time we found ourselves in a dorm with about 30 beds - all women.  We were told where to place our boots and packs and made our beds in the crammed room.  It was the first time that we had chatter before we went to sleep and a lot of rustling and rearranging of packs.  Men were on another floor and the nuns generously provided breakfast of coffee, hot chocolate and bread with butter and jam for our 5 Euro stay.

After a rest in the afternoon, we went out to see the 'Gate of Forgiveness" at the San Isidoro Plaza.  Medieval pilgrims who were too ill to travel to Santiago could still receive the same indulgences from the church as those making the complete pilgrimage.

                                    

          

On the way back to the albergue, we ran into a few of our fellow pilgrims and joined them for a light dinner at an outdoor cafe.  They are from Australia, Holland and Germany.  We have run into them for days.

                                   

My angel card today was 'freedom' and making the decision to continue walking and carrying Hildy and many prayers with me to Santiago offered a bit of freedom for me.  Sometimes when I am in a quandry about what to do about something takes so much energy and my mind will often spin around in circles.  Actually making a decision and moving on helps relieve the spinning wheels and I feel freerer.